The Common Room *Part 1*
by Ryann Charmington
Summary: Buff and Ryann are about to expose secrets that will blow the top of Gryffindor common room...


The Common Room:

The Common Room:

**Revelations**

Written originally by the members of Gryffindor, [http://maraudersmap.8k.com][1]

Edited by Ryann

First I will set the scene, just read the italics below…

_In a cell in Azkaban, in the South-west corner, furthest from the Dementors, a young woman watches the ocean from her tiny window. She dreams of escaping the prison, and returning to a more-or-less normal life. But Christania Charmington was never really normal to begin with. _

__

_ She was one of quadruplets, but was so weak when the due date set for her and her sisters came; she was forced to remain inside for an extra month. Perhaps it was this early separation from her sisters that forced her to become an outcast, or maybe the horrible scar that crossed her other wise beautiful face on the left cheek made her seem monstrous to her peers. We may never know exactly why, but the first 13 years of her life were miserable and lonely. _

__

_ The cure to this loneliness didn't come until after her 14th birthday. Her sisters, who had celebrated their 14th birthday a month earlier, were at a party with some of their schoolmates. Christania was left alone in her room. She heard a clunking noise at her window and opened it. A barn owl landed on her bead with a letter for her. She quickly opened it. The letter read as follows:_

__

Dearest Christania,

I have been watching you for several years, and it is time to make myself known to you. My name is Jonathan. I know for years you have suffered in solitude, but in a few months that will change. Your father is being transferred back to England, and you and your family will be joining him. I can not tell you more than that as of yet, but when you arrive in London, I will write you again.

Forever yours,

Jonathan

_Indeed, a few months later she was in __London__ with her family. On the third night in their new home, a barn owl, same one as last time, flew in through her open window. It dropped a plain brown envelope with silver lettering on her bead. She excitedly read it by the light of a full moon._

__

Dearest Christania,

I know you have been transferred to Hogwarts for the rest of your magical education. I would like to meet with you before then. Meet me at the crosswalk in front of the florist's shop nearest your house. I will know you immediately; however you must look for a boy with a silver dragon earring.

Forever yours,

Jonathan

_They met the next day and many times after that. They fell in love. He would shower her with gifts including an Invisibility Cloak. However, it is not their private life that matters. They, and other friends of Jonathan, practiced Dark Arts. One day, at nearly the end of summer vacation, Christania was caught by Magical Law Enforcement. She was sentenced to 20 years in Azkaban. Her parents did all they could, but in the end, they lost. All three of Christania's sisters went into Gryffindor. _

__

_She had been in Azkaban for two years to the day. She got the "easy end" of __Azkaban____Island__, but the effect of the Dementors was still maddening. The only reason her cell was at that corner was that eventually she was going to be released back into the public._

__

_She sat, alone in her cell, writing a letter to Jonathan. It was the only thing she could do to pass the time. This is where our story shall begin…_

__

"Full moon again tonight," Christania muttered to herself. "Jacky J. should be changing any minute now."

"He isn't changing anymore, girl," said a voice from the cell across the hall.

"What makes you so sure?" she asked. "You just got here."

"Silly child," said the voice again. "That werewolf died to nights ago. Remember? He bit his wrists and bled to death, and I have been here much longer than you have. The main part of the prison was getting too full, that's why the moved me here."

"My name is Christania. What's yours?" she asked.

"Call me Mr. Lestranger," he replied. "What is a young girl like you doing in Azkaban?"

Christania laughed darkly. "I came in two years ago for using the Imperius Curse on one of my sisters. She had taken one of my favorite toys, and I forced her to give it back. What are you in here for?"

"My wife and I were proven guilty as followers of the Dark Lord."

"Voldemort?"

He nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't know! It seems you have dark dealings before; I thought some of my old friends might have gotten involved with your education." He pointed to the unfinished letter and asked, "What's that?"

"My boyfriend Jonathan keeps me up-to-date on what's going on in the outside world. I have good news for you, though."

"And, what would that be?"

"Your master is returned. He plans to free you from Azkaban in another week or so."

"Really?"

"Yes. Count on Jonathan to know about those things! He's the one who got me into the business in the first places."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_A week and two days passed without great incident from the outside world, but in Azkaban, an honorary Death Eater was created. Christania agreed to join Voldemort and his followers when he came to Azkaban. Then, that fateful day finally came…_

__

Christania turned her head toward the sounds of cheering. It isn't the kind of cheering you hear when Quidditch fans celebrate winning a game, it was a cheer that happens when the tired, angry, and insane are being loosened into the world. The dementors had left, and Christania had been sleeping. She woke to see cage doors flying open, and her neighbors being released. Then she saw _him_. 

A skeletally thin man in a flowing black robe glided down the passageway, men and women in masks following him…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ryann sat at the bottom of the marble staircase.

Harmony walked up holding a glowing scarlet book and looking utterly pleased with herself. "Hey, Ryann! Anything goin' on?" She said with a smile, and sat down next to Ryann.

"Not much," Ryann replied sadly. "Guess what happened to me though."

"What?"

"Some of my fellow Gryffindors think I've joined the 'Dark Side' if you know what I mean..."

"What?!" Harmony cried so her voice echoed in the hall. "How could you- how could...?" She was unable to finish the sentence. She sat down heavily. "I don't understand." She said weakly. "If you mean what I think you mean, but the Sorting Hat, the Sorting Hat is never wrong. How could Gryffindors . . ." Her voice trailed off, she was unwilling to believe what Ryann was telling her. That Gryffindors would betray the Ministry, that they'd betray DUNBLEDORE! There must be some other meaning to all of this!

"I never betrayed anyone," Ryann said. "The hat was probably right to put me in Gryffindor... But it's the life I live just outside Hogwarts that would give them that idea..." She paused, and then said, "I want to tell you the secret that I hide... Can you keep it?"

Harmony looked at her with serious, mournful eyes. They had changed from a bright blue to a soft teal. "If it's that important to you," She began softly. "I can always keep a secret. One of my friends, including you, would have to be in danger for me to be forced to betray your trust." She laid a gentle hand on Ryann's arm.

"They seem to think I joined You-know-who, but I didn't. In fact just the opposite.

"You ever heard the saying 'Fighting fire with fire'? I guess that's what my other friends and I do. 

"I have a book called 'World of Darkness' and only I can open it. All of the magic in there is illegal, but we never use it to hurt anybody." 

Ryann considered for moment weather it wise to tell the rest. 

"They call me the 'Book Keeper'; I am one of the highest ranking people in the group. My master is called the 'Black Falcon'. I tell him whenever something important happens at Hogwarts..." Ryann's voice trailed off. 

_I've betrayed him, _she thought silently. 

Harmony looked at her kindly. "Ryann," She began softly. "You should talk to Dumbledore, I'm sure he most likely already knows anyway. Someone's gonna find out one way or another." She took a deep breath. "Who exactly is you're 'Master' and why do you report to him? What is your secret life? You can trust me Ryann." She opened her book and read a few lines out loud in a strange language which Ryann noticed, was the same as written on the pages.

"My secret life is just that, a secret! I wish I could tell you more, but I can't betray them!" Ryann held her head in her hands. "But I can tell you this; we meet in a clearing in the forbidden forest... If you want to know more, you have to play 'Spy'. I wish I could tell you more..."

"Hmmm." Harmony looked thoughtful, and then she vanished. In her place stood a small white cat with bright blue eyes. "Will this work?" she mewed in question. 

"I didn't know you were an Animagus!" Ryann exclaimed. "But I think that'll work... Okay, we meet in a clearing next to the Moon stone, tomorrow night. Can you make it?"

"Definitely!" Harmony mewed. "I'm almost finished with my Dementor essay and its dew in a few days so it shouldn't take long. I'll see you there." 

The next day was uneventful, but there was still tension in the air. When night fell, Ryann dressed in a black cloak and ceremonial jewelry. She picked up her book. 

"If you want to back out know, you can," she said to the little white cat at her feet. "If you get caught, I'll have to deny my entire conversation with you, and you don't want to know what they do with spies." 

"I'm not backing out. Not with the secret aid I have. I'll be fine."

Ryann walked across the grounds as quickly as she could, with Harmony in close pursuit. When they reached the end of the woods, Ryann looked both ways before entering... 

They had been walking for a while when Ryann stopped. She brushed aside some leave on the ground to revile what seemed to be a key. She picked it up, and kept going. 

The reached the Moon stone and Ryann placed the key on top of it, along with many other keys. 

She entered the clearing, and Harmony went up a tree to watch. In the clearing, about twenty people stood waiting in a circle, with one boy in the middle. 

He was a handsome young man, maybe 17 or 18, with deep blue eyes and hair so dark, it was almost black. 

He looked up at Ryann and said, "It's about time. Shall we begin?" 

Harmony watched intently with her feline night vision. The color of her fur shifted and changed to fit perfectly in with her surroundings, her eyes dulled so they would be less luminous. She watched with interest as the ceremony began.

Ryann bowed to the boy in the circle and said, "Yes, Master. I am ready." 

Ryann walked into the circle with her "Master" and stood beside him. She placed her book on the ground, and kneeled beside it. 

She took a deep breath and tapped her wand on the front cover of it. The book fluttered open and she began to read: "A sacrifice to seal our oath, and a knife to set it free." 

A great roaring fire erupted in the center, just ahead of Ryann, and a silver dagger, encrusted with Sapphires in the hilt, rose from it. The dagger fell onto the open book, and Ryann picked it up. She walked to the other side of the fire, and she happened to be facing Harmony. She lifted her right hand and said, "This blood I shed to seal this oath: Bring the destruction of the lord of darkness who has hurt so many." 

She brought the dagger up to her palm and slashed an "x" on it. Some people in the circle flinched, almost as if the were being slashed too. 

But Harmony could see Ryann was used to it, there were many other scares on her hand where it had been slashed before. 

Harmony watched this all with mixed emotions. _So _he's_ the master. He's so young; I thought he'd be older._ She thought.  
She noticed Ryann straining to see her. But couldn't. Ryann couldn't understand how a bright white cat could be so hard to see.

Ryann stopped looking for Harmony and held her bleeding hand out over the fire. It dripped into the flames, and they turned blood red. The other members of the circle took out similar knives (Silver, but no gems), slashed their hands, and let them drip over the flames as well.

Harmony's jewel-like eyes glowed with a dim blue light. The words: "Kreeshco Amoga Claybiel fendiona" flashed in front of her so only she could see. To any other, including the members of the ceremony, they would be meaningless assortments of letters. But for Harmony, they said: "Blood Oath is Superficial Strength."

The "Black Falcon" stood by and watched, his face expressionless. Then he turned his eyes on Ryann. They seemed to be a little softer on her, but anyone who saw that look wouldn't see it later. 

He blinked, as if trying to clear his mind. The circle widened, and the flame died down. The embers glowed, but most of light was from the crescent moon over head. The people of the circle dropped their hoods, one by one, and looked to their "Master". 

He walked out to the center of the circle, where the fire had been. 

"The Darkest times are upon us," he said. "Voldemort has risen again, and Fudge has done little to help the situation. It is up to us to stop him. Dumbledor is old and wise, but even he cannot stop Voldemort on his own." 

The people of the circle began to murmur, but silenced themselves when he began to speak again. 

"Remember your oath! Destroy the Dark one who plagues the earth, but let the other evils of the world be judged by someone else." 

Slowly, the circle dissolved, and the _Black Falcon_ and Ryann were left alone. 

They turned to each other. Ryann said, "Oh, Jason, it's finally happened. What are we going to do now?" 

Jason took Ryann's hands in his. "I'm not sure. I had always hoped that when this moment came, I would be ready." 

Ryann laid her head on his shoulder. 

Harmony watched all of this unseen. _Well, well. Looks like we've got our hands full. I wonder what's going on with Ryann and the _Dark Eagle_ or whatever._ The words "Bavank Lenskonel" flashed in her eyes. To her, they said "Black Falcon" _I know, I know._ Harmony thought.

Ryann sighed. "Jason, maybe it's time that the world _knew_ about us. It would be so much easier that way." 

Jason smiled, but shook his head. "No, no, my little spy. We may have started this as some kind of superhero game, but it's real now so we have to take care of it now. Plus, how could we keep this operation going with Fudge around? From what I've heard, he doesn't even believe the threat. He'd shut us down." His face was suddenly serious again. 

"You're right," Ryann admitted. "Have you gotten any news from the States yet?" 

"Not yet," he answered. "But our sister group is still growing. No doubt of that." 

Ryann looked up to the sky. "Oh, no," she said. 

"What is it?" 

"The sky," she answered. "It's nearly dawn. I have to go." She started to pull away, but Jason pulled her close, and kissed her. 

"Until we meet again," he whispered in her ear, then left. 

Ryann walked out of the woods and back to the dorm room, a cat close behind.

"Is this your life or a Harlequin romance novel?" Harmony asked prancing beside Ryann. "This is some juicy stuff. How do you become a member of this group? Not that I want to join though."

"You do something crazy, and then they come to you," Ryann laughed. "But I was one of the founders because only I can open the book... As for Jason, we've had a little something going on for a looong time."

"Hmmm. Well, what can I do to help?"

"I'd say the best thing for now would be to keep going as a cat until _we_ figure out what to do," Ryann said. "Plus, I think it would be good if all our Animagus friends would start coming. This meeting was only to see who was still loyal enough to come..." Ryann got a strange look in her eye and said, "You haven't seen anything yet!"

"I'm gonna have a hard time studying astrology with paws and whiskers." Harmony said with a feline smile. "Plus, a lot of us have majorly special forms; I think they'll notice a unicorn peering into a big ol' meeting."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that one," Ryann admitted. "Do you think we should at least _tell_ the others though?"

"Perhaps. But didn't Jason tell you not to blab? I thought he said no way," Harmony said, recalling the conversation. "I just think that you shouldn't go against him. By the way, what would they have done if they caught me?"

"He _said_ not to tell _Fudge_," Ryann said. "He wants to bring in help really, but if too many _adults_ are in on it, they'll either take over or shut us down. As for what they do with spies..."

"Oh, never mind," said Harmony. Then she transformed back into her human self. "Let's just figure out what we can do about this whole mess."

"I still think we should tell our friends, we need all the help we can get." The girls walked up the stairs to their dorm, not knowing they were being watched…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Buff was sitting by the fire in a clearing in the forbidden forest with his best friend Trix.

Jill walked up to the two of them.

All of a sudden, everyone else walked in. Ginny, Candi, Keiko, Laura, Sarah, Chelsea, Cherry, Elizabeth and everyone else. Theo, Joshua, and Hermione were at the end, wondering who had called this meeting! 

Buff stood up. "I have brought all of you together here because I need to tell you a secret. The only person on this planet that I told was my best friend Trix. I haven't told any of my three sisters (he looked at Jill), or my girlfriend (he looked at Laura). And all of you as my friends have the right to know," he said, looking serious.

"What is it?" asked Felicia, trying her best too things this seriously.

Ryann walked into the clearing with Harmony. Oddly enough they walked in like they were coming from somewhere else in the forest.  
  


"Sorry," they said.  
  


"As you might all know, my mother is a Veela so she left me after my sisters were born. And my father was always at work trying hard to get money for us to live on so I was mostly alone as a child. At about the age of 7 or 8 I started to study magic on my own. By the age of nine I knew more than the average 6th year student. All I ever did was study." At this he paused and looked as though he couldn't continue.

"And. . . . " Felicia prodded.

"Well, instead of telling you all I will show. I needed a hobby so…" he pulled up his robes, and on his left forearm was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth

"You work with my father (Voldemort)?" said Felicia in astonishment. "Well, being his daughter and all, he made-" before Felicia could finish her words she pulled up the sleeve of her robes and revealed the dark mark on her forearm, quickly pulled it back down, and stared at her shoes. 

"He is your father and he placed that on you forcefully. But I have to say, with my heart full of shame, that I, Buff Lazereth, _willfully_ became a Death Eater."   
  


Everyone gasped.  
  


"But-" started Laura.   
  


"I did up until he punished me by killing my father," Buff said.

Felicia was speechless, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"So if you want you may hate me for every thing I have done for I did help in torturing people but I never ever killed," Buff said.

"Why should we hate you? You did what you did and there's nothing you or anyone else in this world can change about that." 

"Yeah, Buff, we don't hate you," said everyone in their own way.  
  


"Thanks," Buff said looking relieved as his friends didn't hate him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Buff was sitting in the common room looking uneasy.

Chelsea walked in. You could tell she just came from the library because she was carrying a large stack of books. "What's up?" she asked.

"Well, there is a reason for me telling you guys that I'm a... a..."

"A... a... what?"

"Well I told you I was a Death Eater because with all these rumors the mark has been getting clearer and I don't know if I should go back to him if he summons me," Buff said.

Chelsea dropped her books. "Oh, sorry," she said. Picking the books up but it was really difficult because she was shaking. When she got back up she cleared her throat and said, "Well, that _is_ for you to decide."

"Wait a sec. Do you think that if I went back that you could come with me?" he said, and noticing by the stunned look he added, "No you don't have to become one, but just so you can spy on the meeting."

"Umm...why?" Chelsea replied still looking stunned.

"For moral support and so I have someone on my side if I need help," Buff said.

"Duh!" Chelsea slapped her self in the head. She sat her books down on the table and fell backwards into a chair behind her and she started to think. It seemed like hours before she finally said,  
  


"I'll do it."

"Okay, but I don't know when it will happen but I know it will so be ready ok," Buff said.

Ryann walked in. "Guys, I just got some bad news..."

"What?" Buff asked.

"_He_ broke open up Azkaban," she sank into a chair as the words slid shakily out of her mouth.

"You mean _Voldemort_?" Buff said, looking stunned

"I just got this." She held out a letter. 

_Dear Sisters, _

_Well, I don't know if you've heard, but I'm back! And I have _NEW_ friends now. After spending two horrible years on __Azkaban____Island__, I've been freed by my new master, Lord Voldemort.  
You can look forward to a family reunion. _

_--Christania _

"Oh my," he said, and then all of a sudden he said, "Not now." As he pulled up his sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark arm, he saw that it had burned black.

"Omigod," Ryann said, looking at it. All of a sudden she collapsed on the ground. "Jason no," she moaned softly.

"What's the matter Ryann?" Buff asked, looking concerned.

Ryann seemed to recover a little. "You aren't the only one who's just been summoned to your master's side." She rubbed part of her shoulder, then lifted her sleeve to reveal a Dolphin jumping over a crescent moon.

"So what should we do?" Buff asked. And they were both confused at this point.

They stood there for a while, motionless. Unsure of what they had to do, no one spoke.

Then Ryann broke the uneasy silence. "We should both go to where we have been summoned," she said. "It's probably our best bet for now, and we don't have much choice..."

   [1]: http://maraudersmap.8k.com/



End file.
